China imported 5.7 million tonnes of coal from Australia in February, down from 7.9 million tonnes in January, Reuters reported March 26.

The report, citing data from the General Administration of Customs, said the decline was due in large part to weaker industrial demand during the Lunar New Year.

Coal imports from Australia, China's largest supplier, jumped 11% year over year but were the lowest since the start of northern China's winter heating season in November 2017.

Indonesia supplied the second-largest volume of coal to China, at 3.7 million tonnes, followed by Russia at 1.8 million tonnes, while Mongolian shipments came in at 1.3 million tonnes, the report said.

China's total coal imports in February stood at 20.9 million tonnes, down from January's four-year high of 27.8 million tonnes and the lowest since July 2017. Year-to-date coal imports were up 14% year over year to 48.7 million tonnes.